The invention generally relates to systems and methods for guiding or locating diagnostic or therapeutic elements in interior regions of the body.
Physicians make use of catheters today in medical procedures to gain access into interior regions of the body for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. It is important for the physician to be able to reliably and precisely position in proximity to desired tissue locations. For example, the need for precise control over the catheter is especially critical during procedures that ablate myocardial tissue from within the heart. These procedures, called ablation therapy, are used to treat cardiac rhythm disturbances.
This invention has as its principal objective the realization of safe and efficacious systems and methods for remotely locating operative elements at precise locations within the body.
The invention provides systems and methods for locating an operative element within an interior body space. The systems and methods use a locating probe, which includes at least one transmitting element to transmit an electric waveform output within at least a portion of the space. The systems and methods also use a sensing element, which is adapted to be carried by the operative element to sense a local electric waveform within the space. A processing element coupled to the sensing element generates a processed output that locates the sensing element relative to the locating probe based, at least in part, upon a differential comparison of the waveform output and the sensed local waveform.
Other features and advantages of the inventions are set forth in the following Description and Drawings, as well as in the appended Claims.